The Royal High School (RHS) of Edinburgh is a co-educational school administered by the City of Edinburgh Council. The school was founded in 1128 and is one of the oldest schools in Scotland. It serves around 1,400 pupils drawn from four feeder primaries in the north-west of the city: Blackhall primary school, Clermiston primary school, Cramond and Davidson's Mains.

James Lawson was the Church of Scotland minister who succeeded John Knox at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh. Lawson's great educational achievement was the founding of the University of Edinburgh. He may be said to have been its principal promoter, and its best and wisest friend during the first year of its history, 1583.